Dong fan noodles

Dong fan noodles

Last year the wonderful Z and I decided to expand our culinary horizons by attending a Chinese and Thai cookery evening class. It was a funny place, 10 random people thrown together over some random food. There were some good highs and some low lows. The lowest point was a dish called Nayan Chicken. It involved an ingredient called nam yue which is essentially fermented bean curd with red rice flavouring. My western palate did not appreciate it, so strong and salty. I even read somewhere that it can give you nose cancer (unreliable internet source et al). Getting back to the topic in hand, I was intending to write about dong fan which is a tasty little noodle dish (one of the highs).

The dish has 4 main selling points - 

1 - It's a quick dish to make taking 15 minutes from start to finish.

2 - It doesn't have an endless list of specialty ingredients, everything can be found in the supermarket. The white pepper really does give it an extra depth so I reckon it's worth the whole 32p it costs. 

3 - It's an easygoing dish; it will pretty much take what you chuck at it. Works great with left over roast pork. Equally if you don't have any coriander et cetra it won't be a disaster.

4 - Great as leftovers. You will be on the receiving end of lunchbox envy if you show up with this little number. Beware!

Fish and dark soya sauce

Dong Fan - adapted from Lai Choo Law

serves 2

I small packet of vermicelli

1/3 of a small white cabbage - finely sliced, hard middle bit removed

1 large onion - quartered and finely sliced

2tbs vegetable oil

2-3 dried chilies crushed

1 carrot, halved and halved again then finely sliced

20 raw prawns - de shelled and de veined 

1/2tsp white pepper

1/2tsp dark Soya sauce

fish sauce to taste (approx 1tsp)

1 handful of bean sprouts

2 chopped spring onions

few springs of coriander

Soak the vermicelli in hot water until soft, drain and put to one side.

Heat a wok with the oil and fry off the onions and cabbage, let it soften and get really brown. This will take about 10 minutes.

Add the carrots and chili and after 2 minutes add the prawns. They will take about 3 minutes to cook.

About a minute from the end add the noodles, bean sprouts, spring onions, coriander, pepper, soya and fish sauce.

Enjoy.

                                                                                                                                                                                          all done